Chapter Nine

　　Themes

　　Love

　　In the popular imagination, the relationship of Heathcliff and Cathy is seen as one of the greatest love stories in English literature. It is important to consider why. They never consummate their love, and so could the intensity of their feeling owe as much to frustration as deep feeling？If so, does this matter and is it proof of a deeper bond than those of marriage and sex？It is often overlooked that Heathcliff and Cathy are brought up as siblings. Thus their relationship contravenes nearly all the social and moral boundaries imposed by familial roles. In The English Novel, Form and Function（1953）, Dorothy Van Ghent drew attention to the significance of doors and windows throughout the novel, suggesting that they are representative of these boundaries. The symbolism is used to particular effect when Cathy is confined to her room in Volume 1, Chapter 12（the importance of this motif is explored in greater detail under the theme of'Nature'）.

　　Romantic allusions attached to the idea of'union'with another are pushed to the extreme. Heathcliff and Cathy attempt to conquer the separation enforced by death, but in doing so transgress many taboos. Any sentimentalism invoked by Heathcliff's plans to be buried with Cathy is eroded by his morbid attempts to dig up her corpse for one last embrace. Similarly, Cathy's rejection of heaven and the implications of her ghost, as well as the legend of the lovers'ghosts wandering the moors, stress how the conventional barriers set up between dreams and reality, life and death, are always under threat.

　　The violence that colours relationships in the novel also characterizes Heathcliff and Cathy's expression of love. Bronte depicts the positive and negative attributes of violent natures, and is not afraid to depict raw emotion. However, paradoxically, the cruelty Heathcliff shows towards others does not diminish our belief in his capacity for love, nor the profundity of their relationship. In fact, it makes him more realistically human and therefore more attractive and sympathetic than the conventional romantic hero（see the charismatic Darcy in Pride and Prejudice）.

　　However, considering the fact that Heathcliff loses all momentum for revenge towards the end of the book（and as he comes nearer to union with Cathy in death）, it could be argued that Bronte is showing us that it is necessary for violence– whether channelled through hate or love– to be tempered if you are to achieve lasting happiness in the world. Forgiveness is first brought into the novel through Lockwood's dream at the beginning. The inability of characters to forgive others is shown to be the cause of deep unhappiness. Thus, Heathcliff's inability to forgive Cathy for marrying Edgar indirectly leads to her death；his failure to forgive Hindley for abusing him ricochets misery through subsequent generations. The marriage of Hareton and Catherine, then, can be seen as the resolution of the earlier tempestuous love of Heathcliff and Cathy, the younger lovers being tempered refined versions of the first.

　　Faith

　　Conventional religious faith is represented by Joseph, who imposes constraint on the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights, particularly Heathcliff and Cathy. The fact that he is unsympathetic and cruel has been taken as indication of Bronte's views concerning Christian teachings. Heathcliff's rebellion is marked by allusions to the devil, and the scene depicting him and Cathy looking in on Thrushcross Grange has been interpreted as the devil looking in on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

　　In line with Bronte's implied criticism of organized religion is the constancy of Heathcliff's love for Cathy. His marriage to Isabella and his efforts towards revenge do not lessen its impact；rather, they emphasize his fallibility and humanity, and this in turn serves only to elevate his love and faithfulness to Cathy's memory. Bronte depicts superior, transcendent emotions in flawed characters. Arguably she is presenting a freer alternative faith more focused on the individual. This idea is particularly intriguing in light of the prominence of nature in the novel.

　　Nature

　　Sample Questions

　　1）Discuss the role of Nelly Dean in Wuthering Heights.

　　In a novel the effect of a narrator gives the reader an intimate but subjective account of events. It removes the omniscience of the author and the possibility of objectivity. We can take nothing for granted and must be wary of forming judgements on the basis of what we are told and how we are told it.

　　Why should Bronte choose Nelly Dean as the narrator of Wuthering Heights？As a respected, educated servant, she is socially mobile. This enables her access to events and conversations. She is both a part of and removed from the action.

　　However, more importantly, she provides a contrast to the extreme emotions exhibited by Heathcliff and Cathy, making them believable. Remark upon the episode depicting Heathcliff's grief after Cathy's death.“Her life closed in a gentle dream - may she wake as kindly in the other world”is Nelly's word on the death while Heathcliff responds in a“sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion”,“May she wake in torment…Catherine Earnshaw…do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you”. The force of Heathcliff's emotion affects the reader more because of Nelly's sober, startled reaction that is juxtaposed with it. Similar is the role of Nelly when Cathy's declares her love for Edgar and Heathcliff. Catherine speaks in metaphors and with the false certainty originating in passion：“Nelly, I am Heathcliff…so don't speak of our separation again– it is impracticable；and…”. Nelly responds,“If I can make any sense of your nonsense, Miss…you are ignorant of the duties you undertake in marrying”and so on, in sober guidance. Close attention to the text shows how the pitch of Heathcliff and Cathy's language in relation to Nelly's is more taut and intense. Without her scepticism and baffled reactions, the reader would find it difficult to maintain empathy for and belief in these characters.

　　By making an'ordinary'woman relate extraordinary scenes, Bronte is also able to comment on conventional expectations of behaviour. Bronte gives herself license to make observations about social behaviour and their often rotten core with an ingenious vagueness and ambiguity. See also Mary Shelley's Frankenstein（1818）for a similar technique of multiple narrative layers used partly to protect the unconventional views of a woman writing novels when women could not openly challenge society and male dominance in writing.

　　2）What is the significance of location for Wuthering Heights？

　　What is the effect of the title of the novel？It elevates the importance of location and intimates that this significantly affects the characters and events. Also gives greater significance to Wuthering Heights and its inhabitants.

　　Consider the depiction of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The former is representative of nature, the latter of culture and sophistication. Show how this is achieved in the imagery with the use of quotation.

　　Then detail the implications of location for the characters of the novel：

　　a）The nature that surrounds each place is echoed in the inhabitants'natures.

　　b）Location is also a dynamic force, serving to affect and turn characters too：Isabella becomes bolder and less refined when at the Heights；Heathcliff becomes a'gentleman'when away from the raw uncivilized Heights.

　　Just as the erection of any boundary is undermined, so Bronte stresses the interplay between location and character, and how places serve to affect and feed emotions and behaviour. But this interaction is always under stress, and is epitomized in the title, with the openness and vagueness of the word Wuthering opposing the remoteness implied by Heights.

　　3）Wuthering Heights has been described as irreligious. Do you agree？

　　Joseph is the voice of conventional, organized religion, but he is portrayed as a pious and cruel man. Therefore this may suggests that Bronte is critical of Christian teaching or at least the men who represent it.